June 11, 2009

Ignore Everybody: And 39 Other Keys to Creativity by Hugh MacLeod, Portfolio, 176 pages, $23.95, Hardcover, June 2009, ISBN 9781591842590
Creativity is a tough thing to dissect. Everyone has it... Wait! Really? Is everyone creative? Are you? Is the person sitting in the next cubicle? Is your boss? More than likely, you don't truly believe that everyone is creative, but Hugh MacLeod does. He believes that there are two groups of people: the creative, and those who don't realize they're creative. MacLeod clarifies, "[I]f you don't see yourself as particularly creative, that's not reality, that's a self-imposed limitation. Only you can decide whether you want to carry that around with you forever. Life is short." Whichever group you are in, this book with the surprising title of Ignore Everybody brings everyone together as innovators, creating an alignment where real change can occur sooner than when relying on one group with the "creative" label to carry the load.
Not only is the title of MacLeod's book is surprising, but some pages contain business card-sized rectangles filled with scribbles and blunt, often profane, yet profound statements. Intriguing for a business book, to say the least. While the cards contain some messages that will likely make some people blush, every page is filled with insight into how to manage creativity; how to do whatever it is you do differently, creatively, and with powerful results.
The keys MacLeod offers in Ignore Everybody don't so much tell you what to do, as they will make you think critically about what you do and how you do it; a refreshing change of perspective that's as smart as it is self-empowering. Statements like, "All existing business models are wrong. Find a new one." and "If your plan depends on suddenly being 'discovered' by some big shot, your plan will probably fail. Nobody suddenly discovers anything." open the door for people to take the next step.
One of MacLeod's great strengths is his ability to transcend the message beyond one audience channel. This isn't a book for business people; it isn't a book for artists or entrepreneurs; it's a book for everyone. Because creativity isn't just about drawing pictures or writing interesting things. Creativity is about how we approach situations, how we communicate, how we do business, and how we live our lives. If you take MacLeod's advice and shift your perspective away from becoming better in ways others expect, and instead "ignore everybody," tapping into your personal creativity to accomplish things that you may be good at (but might be afraid to try), then organizations will change, business will change, and your life will change—for the better.

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Hugh MacLeod's book, Ignore Everybody was released today. It was also reviewed as a Jack Covert Selects title.
I recently had a chance to talk to Hugh about the book, creativity, work, passion, and how these things all came together for him.

I just posted this question on Twitter and LinkedIn and got a lot of interesting responses. From paper snowflakes, to muffins, to cookies, to photos, to records; these are the things that first came to people's minds when considering the question. These things are what they like to make.

The 800-CEO-READ Business Book of the Year
Too Big to Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System—And Themselves by Andrew Ross Sorkin, Viking Books, 624 pages, $32. 95
Even though Too Big to Fail was written during the same year the financial collapse occurred, Andrew Ross Sorkin has written what we predict will be the definitive book on the subject. Sorkin not only tells a gripping “perfect storm” story—reporting the gory details as our 401k’s disappeared and our financial system became nationalized—but he humanizes the players as well, resulting in an imminently readable, albeit lengthy, book.

Amazon does an interesting thing every year, putting their best selling books in each genre on the same page as their editors' pick so you can easily compare the two.
I am sure that, were I an author, I'd hope to see my name on the bestsellers list. It would mean that I had not only done well financially for the year but, more importantly, that my book had made it into the hands of more readers—my ideas into the minds of more people.

Creator of the hugely successful blog, Gaping Void, and author of the best-selling book Ignore Everybody, Hugh MacLeod has written a new book called Evil Plans: Having Fun on the Road to World Domination.
Like his blog and previous book, Evil Plans is filled with the author's curious illustrations that make observations on false perceptions, personal barriers, and other self-imposed limitations as a way to recognize and avoid them. Both humorous and serious, MacLeod's work is based on personal experience and theoretical quests to find success in work and life.